Thanks for visiting our website. Old Squaw Valley Herb Gardens were closed at the end of 2014, but now we are working on completely new gardens.

Our new site is on its way and we will keep updating you here about our plans and new ideas. We are going to post a lot of interesting information about herbs, so don’t forget to check our updates regularly.

Original Squaw Valley Herb Gardens were established in 1984 by two artists Tim Friesen and Rosemary Nightingale. It was located 20 miles from Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks and had a gift shop, organic herb nursery, and a potting shed, surrounded by Lavender field, clustered oak trees, meadow and creek. This place was created to experience the beauty and aromas of the nature, nourish your heart, delight your senses far away from the madding crowd, relax, refresh and be inspired.

Squaw Valley Herb Gardens had offered such activities:

Garden Tour: 2-hour stroll through herb gardens among wonderful plants, with storytelling and demonstration of various herbal remedies and recipes accompanied by delicious tastings and teas.

Lavender Tour: 3-hour stroll with explanation of how to grow Lavender plant, harvest it and use in culinary and medicine; with unveiling few household remedies and recipes, making gifts and savoring a lavender-inspired lunch with herbal teas.

Sequoia Groves: tour to Giant Sequoias to discover the largest trees on earth with remarkable storyteller and herb-inspired box lunch.

Children and Student Tour: a customized Garden Tour for groups of young people.

Wreath-making classes.

Herbalists retreat.

Gift shopping of handmade products made of herbs.

Tours were held April through October with no regular business hours. Pets, smoking, bringing drinks and making phone calls were not allowed to keep the cleanliness, natural aromas, peace and quiet of the place.

Herbs have been used for centuries. They heal our health and add special flavors to meals, they make our window sills and flower beds neat and beautiful and can fill our apartments with magnificent odors when dried and put in sachet bags. Basically, a herb is any plant that can be useful as a food additive, a coloring agent, a medication or an odorant. Leaves, flowers, seeds, roots, and stems – everything matters. On top of everything else, herbs are just beautiful.

If you consider the idea of growing fresh herbs all year round, read this article about how to start a herb garden and grow plants there. Given that you provide enough sunshine, water, oxygen and other nutrients, a herb garden will not take much time and money, but will surely recoup your effort and bring both benefit and enjoyment. Besides, you can be sure of the fact that your herbs contain no pesticides or plant hormones.

What herbs to grow: 7 top plants for your herb garden

A complete beginner will probably feel at a loss choosing the plants for a brand new herb garden. These are the most popular options for you to start with.

Oregano
Oregano plants can be grown both outdoors and indoors. When planted in a pot and placed on a south-facing window, oregano can be a perfect contribution to your meals and interior design.

Rosemary
First, a cutting of rosemary must be rooted in a moistened soilless mix. Then you can place it in a sunny kitchen window to enjoy its immense health benefits and a fresh smell throughout the cold season.

Basil
Basil is a perennial plant that likes sun and warmth and can be grown in a pot on your window sill or in a bed outside.

Chives
Chives can be replanted in a pot at the end of a growing season. As soon as the leaves die, you can move the pot to a cool place, possibly your basement, and after a few days display them on a sunny window.

Chervil
Chervil seeds can be planted in late summer or early autumn and then grown on a window sill in low light and warm temperatures.

Parsley
You can start parsley seeds or replant a clump of parsley roots in early autumn to be placed in a window facing eastwards or westwards.

Sage
Just like many other herbs, it will feel great facing the south. Sage prefers dry air and tolerates high temperatures.

How to plant your herb garden?

There are a few important tips about planting and growing herb gardens that will influence the result significantly.

First, you need to choose the best location in terms of having full sun or morning sun and afternoon shade. In most cases, there should be at least four hours of sun a day.

Next, you should prepare the soil and the pots. The soil should be loosened and drained well; adding compost and fertilizers will make it more productive. The pots should have the right sizes depending on the herb roots and the plants itself.

Finally, get strong healthy plants or seeds and water them when they get dry. The plants should get enough water without being overwatered. Check the soil often to maintain optimal growing conditions for your plants.

In outdoor gardens, most herbs do not like windy or exposed sites and will feel protected and sheltered when grown next to walls and buildings.

When you detox, the main goal is to get rid of toxins in your body. Naturally, the liver plays the role of detoxifying the body. It processes the drugs as toxic substances and prepares to remove them from the body. If the liver doesn’t eliminate these remnants, toxicity could occur and cause more serious problems. Fortunately, some natural herbs can be used to detoxify the body.

Dandelion
For hundreds of years, the dandelion plant has been used to cure several illnesses. The herb promotes bowel regularity as well as healthy hydration levels. Dandelion tea made of this herb helps cure joint discomfort. The root of this herb is used for detoxification because it supports the production of bile. Bile helps transport the toxins out of the body system. This herb is also believed to support the immune system.

Organic Gum Acacia
This herb is gotten from the sap of an acacia tree and has been used to relieve diarrhea as it improves electrolyte absorption. It also adds some bulk to bowel movements. This herb is an emulsifier, and it facilitates and stabilizes synergy between ingredients that wouldn’t normally mix. It acts as a good detoxifier.

Black Walnut
This herb was first introduced to Europe in the 1600’s. Its active agents, juglone, iodine, and tannins, make it ideal for detoxification. The herb’s natural defense mechanism is juglone, and it helps combat harmful organisms such as fungus and bacteria. The tannins, on the other hand, prevent harmful organisms from staying in the body. Lastly, iodine helps kill off harmful organisms.

Organic Milk Thistle
For over 2,000 years, the herb has been used for detoxification of both the liver and gallbladder. It helps in bile production as well, and this improves the digestive function. This herb is an active component in common gallbladder and liver cleansing products. With its help you can effectively detox to get weed out of your system as well as other harmful drugs.

Cilantro
This herb is active in assisting the body to get rid of toxic metals that could accumulate in body tissues. The traditional herb is used in many cooking shows because of its usefulness. It also has some natural detoxifying agents that have compounds, which attach themselves to toxic metals to help remove them from various tissues.

Alfalfa Leaf
This traditional herb has also been used for decades to fight off infections. It is also believed that this herb helps stimulate a healthy appetite and also cures stomach ulcers.

Peppermint
This herb has been known for its detoxifying and soothing qualities. It soothes a cough from flu and colds and cures a sore throat as well as sinus irritation. Peppermint helps the body to fight off harmful organisms. It is used in various lung-cleansing products.

Eucalyptus
This herb is also used for lung cleansing. It has expectorant properties, attacks viruses and fights bacteria as well. Eucalyptus is used topically in ointment form for a blocked nose and chest congestion. The aborigines used this medicine because of its soothing and calming properties.

Stinging Nettle
This herb helps the body resist microorganisms. Stinging Nettle also has antioxidant properties. It is resistant to swelling and systemic redness and helps promote normal blood pressure.

In recent times, there have been debates about how useful marijuana is for treating different medical conditions. Some people believe that this herb is not as useful as pharmaceutical drugs, while others believe that it is a gateway drug that leads to other kinds of drug abuse. These myths are untrue and have been debunked.

New studies have shown that lots of marijuana users take less tobacco, alcohol and even prescription drugs. These studies have revealed that cannabis can be more effective than pharmaceutical drugs and even safer to use. Moreover, it is a good herb for detox. Currently, there has been no record of death from an overdose of marijuana. It takes a high level of THC concentration in one joint to cause death, and this is unlikely. So it is safe to say that marijuana is a healing herb.

What makes marijuana a healing herb?

This plant has so many possible medical applications as well as a continuously growing base of research that supports its medicinal use. Cannabis has been used medically for a long time as up to 85 cannabinoids have been found in the herb. It is a lot different from pharmaceuticals and drugs because so many cannabinoids have different biological activities and their overall effect can exceed that of an individual compound working alone.

What health conditions or symptoms does it cure or soothe?

Cancer

It is not uncommon for cancer patients to suffer from side effects of chemotherapy. Some of the side effects like vomiting and nausea can be prevented by cannabinoids. One study analysis revealed that about 47% of patients stopped suffering from nausea or vomiting after use of THC or CBD. While about 20% were completely free of these symptoms after they took a placebo. A different study focused on testing the usefulness of orally ingested THC and smoking herb leafs has discovered that the patients didn’t experience nausea and vomiting compared to when they weren’t given marijuana.

A different study, which was conducted on 600 cancer patients, discovered that Nabilone, synthetic THC was far better at preventing vomiting and nausea than other anti-nausea medications.

Nerve pain

A study in 2010 with 23 patients who suffered neuropathic pains caused by damaged nerves after surgery or trauma found marijuana to be helpful. Patients who smoked marijuana had less pain and didn’t suffer from insomnia compared to others who weren’t smoking. Three years later, a different study highlighted the importance of cannabis herb in neuropathic pain treatment. Vaporized cannabis, in this case, helped reduce the pain when other treatments failed to work.

Epilepsy

Cannabis has been helpful in the prevention of seizures in epileptic patients. One 2015 study examined how helpful it could be for people with severe epilepsy whose treatment have defiled all other medications. It was conducted on about 137 individuals and they comprised of both kids and adults. The study found that the seizures experienced by the participants reduced by more than 50% in over 12 weeks. However, it didn’t include a different group of patients who did not take the herb, so there is no way to tell if it was a placebo effect or a great cure for epilepsy.

Marijuana has been useful in curing a lot of medical conditions such as inflammatory bowel diseases, nightmares, and it also relieves the symptoms of other severe conditions. This quality makes it an excellent healing herb.